SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — It was a bring-your-own-energy type of game for Montana State on the road Saturday night at Cal Poly, but the Bobcats didn’t have much of it in the first half.
At one point MSU coach Brent Vigen could be seen, shall we say, motivating the offensive line along the sideline as the whole unit struggled to find points. But in the end of what was a 34-17 win, the No. 5-ranked Cats showed that it doesn’t always have to be pretty.
MSU was coming off a bye and playing in front of a subdued crowd at Mustang Memorial Field. The first touchdown of the game didn’t come until the 8:16 mark of the second quarter, when Bobcats quarterback Justin Lamson found Jared White on a wheel route to give MSU a 10-0 lead.
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On the other hand, Cal Poly’s first first down even didn’t come until after that, when Bo Kelly hit Michael Otterstedt with a 36-yard pass to the Bobcats’ 49 yard line. Until then, the Mustangs had fewer than 40 yards of total offense and had run only 14 total plays.
A 10-yard touchdown run by Julius Davis in the third quarter gave MSU a three-possession lead and that was more than enough. Davis finished with a season-high 175 yards on the ground.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF WIN: The Bobcats have now won six in a row in the series against the Mustangs, but this one was a little bit different. Entering Saturday, MSU averaged 52.5 points in its past four meetings with Cal Poly, including victories of 72-28 in 2022 and 59-19 in 2023.
After its first-half sluggishness, the Cats turned to their tried-and-true running game. Montana State finished with 290 yards as Adam Jones added 62 yards and a touchdown and Lamson had 50 yards and another score.
JUICE GOT LOOSE: On the first two plays after halftime, Davis — nicknamed “Juice” — ran twice for 35 yards including a 26-yard burst to the Cal Poly 37. That was a precursor to his 10-yard TD run that gave MSU a 17-3 lead.
Davis ran with reckless abandon. He averaged 9.2 yards on 19 carries, though his fumble in the fourth quarter gave the Mustangs a little bit of a late window to execute some big plays.
GREAT TIMING: The Bobcats’ ground production was significant, and it helped the team dominate time of possession. MSU kept the ball for 36:31 and accumulated 26 first downs to Cal Poly’s 12. The Cats ran 80 total plays to that of 50 for Cal Poly. The Mustangs ran only nine plays in the first quarter for 13 total yards.
Cal Poly finally found the end zone early in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard strike from Kelly to Fidel Pitts.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Bobcats, now 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big Sky, return to the road again next Saturday when they face Northern Colorado at Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo. The game is scheduled to kick off at noon and will be broadcast by Scripps Sports.
The Bears, though 1-3 in the league (and 3-5 overall), have shown improvement under third-year coach Ed Lamb. They gave UC Davis a game on Saturday, losing 27-16, and have a 49-33 win over previously ranked Idaho under their belt.
